We just got home from 5 nights yesterday. Here’s a quick recap of our trip.
Sunday- drove over from the west coast. Left our house at 9 and was at Pop by 11. I was trying to beat the rain that was looming over us. Thankfully we made it before the crazy storm came in. We had reservations at beaches and cream for 2:50 and had planned on using the sky liner but with the storm it was shut down so we took an Uber with the hopes of it coming back on when we were done eating. We loved beaches and cream and decided to try to go here once every trip! The rain had slowed down when we were done but the sky liner wasn’t running yet so we took an Uber back. Since the storm had passed we spent the rest of the evening in the pool.
Monday- HS- we werent trying to make rope drop any day but we were just planning on being there close to opening. We were up at 6:30 and I was able to score boarding group 28 for ROTR at 7am. We got in line for the sky liner a little after 7:30. There was a line to get in HS as it wasn’t open yet by the time we got off the sky liner. It opened and we walked on MMRR and then went to our Hollywood and Vine breakfast reservation. When we got off we headed into toy store land and got in line for TSMM. It was posted at 35 mins but we only waited about 15/20. When we got off our boarding group was called so we headed over to Star Wars land. When we got over there it was down so we waited a few minutes and it came back up so we got in line. My 5 year old hated the escape pod part and cried but we loved it. After we got off we walked around and saw Chewy and Rey and then saw some storm troopers interacting with the crowd. They were fun. We decided to skip Smugglers Run since my daughter didn’t like ROTR. We did Alien Swirling Saucers next and then had lunch at Sci-Fi. On our way over to lunch we saw chop and dale having a picnic. After lunch we went on Star Tours and then headed back to Pop. We spent the rest of the day in the pool and did mobile ordering at Pop for dinner.
Tuesday- MK. Got up at 6 and put in our mobile order for 7am breakfast at Pop. We were done eating a little after 730 and got in the bus line. We were on the bus at 7:48 and in MK a little after 8. I put in our mobile order lunch time for 1230-1 at cosmic rays. We didn’t want any headliners since my 5 year old decided she didn’t want to do them anymore she just liked watching them on YouTube. We did Haunted Mansion, PP, It’s a Small World, Winnie the Pooh, and Tea cups. We decided that we wanted lunch a little early so I changed the time and we ate. After lunch we did buzz, the speedway, dumbo, Ariel, and then went over to Tom saywer island. On our way we saw the princesses by the castle and then saw Gaston, moana, Alice, and Peter Pan in Frontierland. We spend some time at Tom saywer island and then headed out for the day. Spent the evening at the pool, did another mobile order for pop for dinner. We took a walk over to AOA and on the way back played at the playground before going in for showers.
Wednesday- Epcot- we slept in a little this day and then got breakfast at Pop. Got on the Skyliner and got to Epcot around 1045. We headed over to Frozen and when we got off Elsa was out so we got in line for her. We went to Mexico and when we got out the princesses were riding by and then Mickey and the gang passed by. We then headed to figment and did the Pixar shorts show. Pooh was out with his butterfly net and then did some excerises. It was so cute. We then went to the land. We decided to skip soarin and test track since my 5 year old didn’t want to be brave 😂. Instead we did living with the land and ate at sunshine seasons. Next up was Nemo and the aquarium where we found an awesome CM with a scavenger hunt book for us to do. then we checked out the butterfly garden. We stopped to get an orange bird cup and I got the wine slushy it was so good. We went walking around the countries and my daughter fell asleep in her stroller. We hung out at the American pavilion got a bit until she woke up. Then we went to Italy for dinner at via Napoli. After dinner we finished up the countries and headed back to pop on the Skyliner.
Thursday- MK- same plan as Tuesday and got to MK a little after 8 and I placed our mobile order for cosmic rays. This time we headed to adventure land and did jungle cruise, flying carpets, and pirates. Then we hit haunted mansion, it’s a small world, and mickeys philarmagic. We went to lunch and relaxed for a bit. Next was buzz, Pooh, teacups, and Ariel. We decided to do some shopping so we went to sit mickeys where I saw the stepsisters out so we ran over to talk to them. We had planned on stopping on Main Street for some cupcakes. But they were closed for refurbishment 😭😭 we left and went back to pop for swimming and dinner.
Overall we had a great trip even though we missed some of the big rides since my daughter didn’t want to try them. We didn’t have very long waits and I really liked mobile ordering. Can’t wait until our next trip!
 
On a recent YouTube video they noted the safari at AK closes an hour before the park closes.

ETA: this was in response to a question on a thread that apparently was folded into this thread, about things closing earlier than park closing time.
 
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Thank you! Is that ride any good? Does it have huge lines? I assume it's in the Star Wars section? Do you still need reservations for the Star Wars section, or just for Rise of the Resistance?

Is it good? It’s a simulator style ride with a good video. I get seasick on It. My sister says she can skip it in the future - but plans to re-ride Flight of Pandora in AK multiple times (another simulator ride) on our next visit. You get an assigned duty of pilot or engineer and have tasks to complete (buttons to push). It’s on my “Been there, rode that list.” I’d rather ride RocknRollercoaster, Towerof Terror, Mickey Minnie Runaway Railway, sing at Frozen, Toy Story Midway Mania or try to get on Slinky Dog Dash. And I never ride Star Tours due tio motion sickness.

Smuggler’s Run is a popular ride with a wait Time that varies throughout the day - but there are opportunities to get decent waits, unlike Tower of Terror and its fairly consistent long wait.

Yes, it is in the heart of Galaxy’s Edge, whether coming from the front of the park or from Toy Story Land.

Why not give it a try.
 
Were these mailed to your home?
Yes! They arrived yesterday and there are reports on another thread that people are receiving daily envelopes with luggage tags to their homes. One person received 8 in a row so perhaps there are some IT issues???
Edited: to clarify he has one trip upcoming but has received several separate mailings referencing the same single upcoming trip and containing the luggage tags/mini golf/espn coupons like there was some glitch while other were reporting the same thing happening to them:they were receiving way too many mailings. Then there were people saying theirs arrived AFTER their trip so there do seem to be some odd things going on with the package coupon/tag mailings.
 

Yes! They arrived yesterday and there are reports on another thread that people are receiving daily envelopes with luggage tags to their homes. One person received 8 in a row so perhaps there are some IT issues???
Edited: to clarify he has one trip upcoming but has received several separate mailings referencing the same single upcoming trip and containing the luggage tags/mini golf/espn coupons like there was some glitch while other were reporting the same thing happening to them:they were receiving way too many mailings. Then there were people saying theirs arrived AFTER their trip so there do seem to be some odd things going on with the package coupon/tag mailings.
Does the mini golf coupon have an expiration date? We booked a split stay and the first hotel is the one that is a package, while the second is resort only. I am trying to figure out if I have to call to make that second hotel a package too since that’s the point at which we probably would want to play mini golf. But if there aren’t dates on the vouchers, maybe we could still use them.
 
Does the mini golf coupon have an expiration date? We booked a split stay and the first hotel is the one that is a package, while the second is resort only. I am trying to figure out if I have to call to make that second hotel a package too since that’s the point at which we probably would want to play mini golf. But if there aren’t dates on the vouchers, maybe we could still use them.
The little golf coupon is not dated, but the fine print says it must be presented with the Magical Extras card which is dated the date of check in to date of check out. I found that odd since we are allowed more of a range than that for our package theme park tickets!
 
The little golf coupon is not dated, but the fine print says it must be presented with the Magical Extras card which is dated the date of check in to date of check out. I found that odd since we are allowed more of a range than that for our package theme park tickets!
Thanks! That’s what I needed to know. Guess I will call!
 
/
I just returned from my fifth COVID trip to Disney and would like to share my experience this time around. The dates were 4/14-4/17 with just my sister joining me. We stayed Wednesday night at the Aloft and the rest of the trip in a Preferred Studio at SSR. This would be my first time staying at SSR in about 7 years so I can also share some thoughts on the resort as well.

We did MK Thursday and Epcot on Friday. Also, we took advantage of the close proximity of SSR to Disney Springs so we could get those coveted Gideon’s Cookies!!!

Wednesday, April 14th – Disney Springs

This has been said time and time again on these boards and it’s so very true it bears repeating. DO NOT go to DS at night! It was miserable and made me not want to go back again. Gone are the days of being able to just grab a drink from a bar and be on your way. We drove up after work and went straight here. Every place was a 30 minute wait just to get a drink. We had reservations at Wine Bar George and had some apps and decided to just leave after that.

Thursday, April 15th – Disney Springs (Gideons) + Magic Kingdom (Plaza dinner)

One of the main reasons for this trip was to get cookies! I got a text before 8am letting me know the room was ready at SSR. We decided to drive over to DS but the garages weren’t open yet. We ended up just parking at SSR and walking over which ended up being prefect. We were let in at 9am and booked it to Gideons. It paid off as we were the 4th in line. Gideons opened early and we were out of there by 10am. Huge difference between the early mornings and nights at Springs. It was actually pleasant in the morning.

SSR was absolutely fabulous. Our room was in Congress Park and was refurbed recently. The walks to the Springs pool and the Paddock pool were relatively quick. Food options for lunch at the Paddock pool were limited and not that great. Bad food seemed to be the theme this trip, but I’ll get to that in a bit. Unfortunately, quiet time at the theme pools seems to be nonexistent. I’ve never heard so many screaming kids in my life. I seriously feel bad for the lifeguards having to listen to that all day long while the parents look on smiling. The resort needs a sit down restaurant. Otherwise busses were on point. Does take a while at drop off if you're staying in Congress Park.

Magic Kingdom (4:30pm – Close)

I admittedly haven’t been to MK since reopening, so this was pretty exciting. Tried the Spring Rolls in Adventure Land and loved them. Tried a Dole Whip and threw it out. I don’t get that craze guys.

Pirates had a posted 30 min wait at 5pm and it was accurate.

BTMR had a posted 35 min wait and it was a straight walk on.

HM had a posted 10 min wait and was a walk on.

I was excited to try dinner at The Plaza for my first time, but that was a big mistake! That may have been the worst food experience I’ve ever had at Disney. Absolutely disgusting food. Luckily the meal took less than 30 minutes and we were out of there. No theming and if you don’t have a view of the castle there’s nothing going for this place.

After dinner we headed to Tomorrowland and SM had a posted 20 min wait but was only 10.

Buzz had a 15 min posted wait and took 10. Social distancing was sketchy in this line to say the least.

At that point it was getting close to closing and the lines somehow seemed to have gotten worse so we headed out and tried to grab more Spring Rolls but the cart was closed.

As we were walking out we noticed a huge lack of CM’s around. It just seemed very chaotic.

Friday, April 16th – Epcot (Flower & Garden)

Epcot

I’m almost positive that our bus was one of the first in Epcot at around 9:55. We were let in shortly after and were third in line for TT. They held us inside the queue until about 10:25.

None of the booths were open yet so we gave Frozen a shot and it was a 10 minute wait. The plexiglass on this one is bad. It has water stains on it and is really distracting.

At 11am we were let into Mexico and got margaritas at La Cava.

Ate at way too many booths and all were really good. The only complaint would be the pretzel bread with ham and cheese in Germany. We took a mid-day break and came back for dinner at Chefs de France. We were really excited to try this place for the first time, but it just didn’t work out. I guess they opened Monsieur Paul up to fit more people and they were just not prepared. No music playing and no one came to our table for over 10 minutes. Decided to just get up and leave which worked out well because we got to eat at more booths. The lines for the booths weren't bad at all both in the afternoon and at night.

The bus driver at the end of the night was awesome and took a poll to see where everyone was getting off at SSR which resulted in only two stops!

It was a really good trip and definitely not as busy as it was in March. Happy to answer anything if anyone has any questions.

TLDR: Avoid Disney Springs at night. Get to Gideon’s early. Waits at MK were really good on Thursday night. Saratoga Springs was great for this trip and a nice change. Food wasn't so great at restaurants but the booths at Epcot were really good. The rides where the queues switch back and forth seemed to have the worst social distancing. Bring back more CM's!
 
I just returned from my fifth COVID trip to Disney and would like to share my experience this time around. The dates were 4/14-4/17 with just my sister joining me. We stayed Wednesday night at the Aloft and the rest of the trip in a Preferred Studio at SSR. This would be my first time staying at SSR in about 7 years so I can also share some thoughts on the resort as well.

We did MK Thursday and Epcot on Friday. Also, we took advantage of the close proximity of SSR to Disney Springs so we could get those coveted Gideon’s Cookies!!!

Wednesday, April 14th – Disney Springs

This has been said time and time again on these boards and it’s so very true it bears repeating. DO NOT go to DS at night! It was miserable and made me not want to go back again. Gone are the days of being able to just grab a drink from a bar and be on your way. We drove up after work and went straight here. Every place was a 30 minute wait just to get a drink. We had reservations at Wine Bar George and had some apps and decided to just leave after that.

Thursday, April 15th – Disney Springs (Gideons) + Magic Kingdom (Plaza dinner)

One of the main reasons for this trip was to get cookies! I got a text before 8am letting me know the room was ready at SSR. We decided to drive over to DS but the garages weren’t open yet. We ended up just parking at SSR and walking over which ended up being prefect. We were let in at 9am and booked it to Gideons. It paid off as we were the 4th in line. Gideons opened early and we were out of there by 10am. Huge difference between the early mornings and nights at Springs. It was actually pleasant in the morning.

SSR was absolutely fabulous. Our room was in Congress Park and was refurbed recently. The walks to the Springs pool and the Paddock pool were relatively quick. Food options for lunch at the Paddock pool were limited and not that great. Bad food seemed to be the theme this trip, but I’ll get to that in a bit. Unfortunately, quiet time at the theme pools seems to be nonexistent. I’ve never heard so many screaming kids in my life. I seriously feel bad for the lifeguards having to listen to that all day long while the parents look on smiling. The resort needs a sit down restaurant. Otherwise busses were on point. Does take a while at drop off if you're staying in Congress Park.

Magic Kingdom (4:30pm – Close)

I admittedly haven’t been to MK since reopening, so this was pretty exciting. Tried the Spring Rolls in Adventure Land and loved them. Tried a Dole Whip and threw it out. I don’t get that craze guys.

Pirates had a posted 30 min wait at 5pm and it was accurate.

BTMR had a posted 35 min wait and it was a straight walk on.

HM had a posted 10 min wait and was a walk on.

I was excited to try dinner at The Plaza for my first time, but that was a big mistake! That may have been the worst food experience I’ve ever had at Disney. Absolutely disgusting food. Luckily the meal took less than 30 minutes and we were out of there. No theming and if you don’t have a view of the castle there’s nothing going for this place.

After dinner we headed to Tomorrowland and SM had a posted 20 min wait but was only 10.

Buzz had a 15 min posted wait and took 10. Social distancing was sketchy in this line to say the least.

At that point it was getting close to closing and the lines somehow seemed to have gotten worse so we headed out and tried to grab more Spring Rolls but the cart was closed.

As we were walking out we noticed a huge lack of CM’s around. It just seemed very chaotic.

Friday, April 16th – Epcot (Flower & Garden)

Epcot

I’m almost positive that our bus was one of the first in Epcot at around 9:55. We were let in shortly after and were third in line for TT. They held us inside the queue until about 10:25.

None of the booths were open yet so we gave Frozen a shot and it was a 10 minute wait. The plexiglass on this one is bad. It has water stains on it and is really distracting.

At 11am we were let into Mexico and got margaritas at La Cava.

Ate at way too many booths and all were really good. The only complaint would be the pretzel bread with ham and cheese in Germany. We took a mid-day break and came back for dinner at Chefs de France. We were really excited to try this place for the first time, but it just didn’t work out. I guess they opened Monsieur Paul up to fit more people and they were just not prepared. No music playing and no one came to our table for over 10 minutes. Decided to just get up and leave which worked out well because we got to eat at more booths. The lines for the booths weren't bad at all both in the afternoon and at night.

The bus driver at the end of the night was awesome and took a poll to see where everyone was getting off at SSR which resulted in only two stops!

It was a really good trip and definitely not as busy as it was in March. Happy to answer anything if anyone has any questions.

TLDR: Avoid Disney Springs at night. Get to Gideon’s early. Waits at MK were really good on Thursday night. Saratoga Springs was great for this trip and a nice change. Food wasn't so great at restaurants but the booths at Epcot were really good. The rides where the queues switch back and forth seemed to have the worst social distancing. Bring back more CM's!
I’ve seen others mention social distancing being bad with buzz. Why is that?
 
We live an hour from Orlando. Yesterday we had a 90% chance of storms and it didn’t even rain. Not saying this won’t happen this week but it’s very possible it either won’t rain or might only rain for a bit
I know I was so disappointed I was hoping that the rain clear out DHS.
 
I just returned from my fifth COVID trip to Disney and would like to share my experience this time around. The dates were 4/14-4/17 with just my sister joining me. We stayed Wednesday night at the Aloft and the rest of the trip in a Preferred Studio at SSR. This would be my first time staying at SSR in about 7 years so I can also share some thoughts on the resort as well.

We did MK Thursday and Epcot on Friday. Also, we took advantage of the close proximity of SSR to Disney Springs so we could get those coveted Gideon’s Cookies!!!

Wednesday, April 14th – Disney Springs

This has been said time and time again on these boards and it’s so very true it bears repeating. DO NOT go to DS at night! It was miserable and made me not want to go back again. Gone are the days of being able to just grab a drink from a bar and be on your way. We drove up after work and went straight here. Every place was a 30 minute wait just to get a drink. We had reservations at Wine Bar George and had some apps and decided to just leave after that.

Thursday, April 15th – Disney Springs (Gideons) + Magic Kingdom (Plaza dinner)

One of the main reasons for this trip was to get cookies! I got a text before 8am letting me know the room was ready at SSR. We decided to drive over to DS but the garages weren’t open yet. We ended up just parking at SSR and walking over which ended up being prefect. We were let in at 9am and booked it to Gideons. It paid off as we were the 4th in line. Gideons opened early and we were out of there by 10am. Huge difference between the early mornings and nights at Springs. It was actually pleasant in the morning.

SSR was absolutely fabulous. Our room was in Congress Park and was refurbed recently. The walks to the Springs pool and the Paddock pool were relatively quick. Food options for lunch at the Paddock pool were limited and not that great. Bad food seemed to be the theme this trip, but I’ll get to that in a bit. Unfortunately, quiet time at the theme pools seems to be nonexistent. I’ve never heard so many screaming kids in my life. I seriously feel bad for the lifeguards having to listen to that all day long while the parents look on smiling. The resort needs a sit down restaurant. Otherwise busses were on point. Does take a while at drop off if you're staying in Congress Park.

Magic Kingdom (4:30pm – Close)

I admittedly haven’t been to MK since reopening, so this was pretty exciting. Tried the Spring Rolls in Adventure Land and loved them. Tried a Dole Whip and threw it out. I don’t get that craze guys.

Pirates had a posted 30 min wait at 5pm and it was accurate.

BTMR had a posted 35 min wait and it was a straight walk on.

HM had a posted 10 min wait and was a walk on.

I was excited to try dinner at The Plaza for my first time, but that was a big mistake! That may have been the worst food experience I’ve ever had at Disney. Absolutely disgusting food. Luckily the meal took less than 30 minutes and we were out of there. No theming and if you don’t have a view of the castle there’s nothing going for this place.

After dinner we headed to Tomorrowland and SM had a posted 20 min wait but was only 10.

Buzz had a 15 min posted wait and took 10. Social distancing was sketchy in this line to say the least.

At that point it was getting close to closing and the lines somehow seemed to have gotten worse so we headed out and tried to grab more Spring Rolls but the cart was closed.

As we were walking out we noticed a huge lack of CM’s around. It just seemed very chaotic.

Friday, April 16th – Epcot (Flower & Garden)

Epcot

I’m almost positive that our bus was one of the first in Epcot at around 9:55. We were let in shortly after and were third in line for TT. They held us inside the queue until about 10:25.

None of the booths were open yet so we gave Frozen a shot and it was a 10 minute wait. The plexiglass on this one is bad. It has water stains on it and is really distracting.

At 11am we were let into Mexico and got margaritas at La Cava.

Ate at way too many booths and all were really good. The only complaint would be the pretzel bread with ham and cheese in Germany. We took a mid-day break and came back for dinner at Chefs de France. We were really excited to try this place for the first time, but it just didn’t work out. I guess they opened Monsieur Paul up to fit more people and they were just not prepared. No music playing and no one came to our table for over 10 minutes. Decided to just get up and leave which worked out well because we got to eat at more booths. The lines for the booths weren't bad at all both in the afternoon and at night.

The bus driver at the end of the night was awesome and took a poll to see where everyone was getting off at SSR which resulted in only two stops!

It was a really good trip and definitely not as busy as it was in March. Happy to answer anything if anyone has any questions.

TLDR: Avoid Disney Springs at night. Get to Gideon’s early. Waits at MK were really good on Thursday night. Saratoga Springs was great for this trip and a nice change. Food wasn't so great at restaurants but the booths at Epcot were really good. The rides where the queues switch back and forth seemed to have the worst social distancing. Bring back more CM's!
We were at Gideons on the the 15th too. We got there at 6pm and waited about 30 minutes. In January we walked in at 9pm with no wait. Maybe its just luck. We stayed in a SSR preferred in January and its now my favorite resort. We stayed at YC this trip and although it was nice being able to walk to two parks I missed walking to DS in the evenings for Dinner. There isn't really any restaurants in Epcot that I like. The money I would have saved staying at SSR would have covered Lyfts to the parks. Instead I paid more the resort and Lyfted to DS. Lesson learned. I shouldn't promote SSR. I'm hoping it stays the redheaded step child of deluxes and continues to have the best discounts.
 














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